Customer Reviews

Dream of Passion [VHS]

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I saw this film in a theatrical release and have never forgotten its power. This film is a story within a story, showing the effects of jealousy and rage taken to extremes. Melina Mecuri is an actress preparing a production of Medea and is working with a former lover who rejected her for another woman. As research for her role, she goes to visit in prison a woman (played marvelously by Ellen Bursten) who has actually killed her children in a revengeful, jealous rage against her unfaithful Greek husband. Her ordinariness, complete absence of regret and the power of her rage are a facinating combination. Melina, along with ourselves, becomes a horrified witness (in flashbacks) to the children's murder. The emotions evolked were so powerful that I and my companions were literally stunned speechless by this film.

I don't want to reveal any "spoilers" about the film, but I do want to make a few clairifications about the previous reviews. This film (which is one of the most powerfrul, emotional movies I've ever seen--notwithstanding I've been in mad crazy love with Melina Mercouri ever since I saw Never on Sunday) is about an actress whose career is in decline (Mercouri), who is doing a film adaption of the play Medea. A publicist discovers that in a local greek jail is an American woman (Burstyn), who murdered her children. "Dream" does a wonderful job of interspersing the Medea plot without beating the viewer over the head about it. Ms. Burstyn's character moves to Greece, doesn't speak the language, doesn't make any friends, becomes lonely and isolated, deeply unhappy. Then the husband sleeps around, and Ms. Burstyn responds by killing the kids. Initially, Ms. Mercouri visits Ms. Burstyn to get "insight" into Medea's character, but is really just engaged in a publicity stunt. Ms. Burstyn has never read Medea, and really doesn't know what the play is about. What surprises Ms. Mercouri (ok--so it surprised me. FINE.) was that Ms. Burstyn did not kill the children out of "revenge," or really even anger.

In the rehearsals of the Medea play, there's a line that Ms. Mercouri and the director always fight over. The husband Jason confronts Medea about killing the kids, how could she do that etc etc., and Medea says "I did it for you." The director wants Ms. Mercouri to spit the line out in ironic, nasty anger. But after meeting with Ms. Burstyn, and hearing Ms. Burstyn's story, Ms. Mercouri says the line tenderly, heartfelt: that Medea really did kill the children *for* Jason. From the perspective of Ms. Burstyn/Medea, Jason/Sleazeball Husband thinks it was a mistake to have married her. So, out of love/duty/regret--any number of strong emotions--to free the husband, to allow the husband to pursue his dreams, dreams that do not include Medea & Family, she kills the children: "I did it for you."

In the Medea of this film, Medea was not acting out of rage, revenge, anger, hate--but out of love. OF COURSE the film is not suggesting this as a practical solution to infidelity. What the film does present--and does an amazing job at this--is that the story behind both Medea and Ms. Burstyn's character is not a simple tale: there are a variety of complex feelings and emotions behind it. What makes this movie one of the best films I have ever seen is the shocking realization that Ms. Mercouri comes to, an understanding of Medea that she had not known.

All that said, this film works for three reasons, two of which are the performances of Ms. Mercouri and Ms. Burstyn (and to be fair, everyone else does their part in holding up their half the sky as well). The third reason why this film works is that the Burstyn character is treated realistically and consistently. She is definately not a monster, but neither is this an "American Movie," where at the end Ms. Burstyn is pardoned, released from jail, and goes on to win the Nobel prize for "Best Person Ever," and lives happily--yet wistfully--ever after. I really hate those movies.

I saw "Dream of Passion" on its original release and have never forgotten the riveting and disturbing impressions it made upon me, nor the memorable performances of both Ellen Burstyn and Melina Mercouri as the murderess and the actress. The theme of appalling revenge for a husband's betrayal is as timeless as the beautiful Greek settings in which it is photographed, and creates a gripping tension. An unusual and powerfully acted film, which unfortunately I have never been able to watch again as I have not found it re-released and it appears to be unavailable except in US /Canadian format. I would be delighted if anyone has any ideas on how I could watch it here in Australia! Are there any gizmos which could make it work on my Aussie video player & telly?

The matinee I went to during this film's original release in 1978 was meant simply to pass the time while I was on break from counseling in a camp for severely emotionally disturbed adolescent boys. It was to be a day of intense emotion indeed.

Mercouri's character is a Greek diva who returns to her native country after many years to perform in Euripides' play Medea on the actual stage in Dionysia where it was first performed in 431 B. C. Medea killed her own children to revenge her husband Jason's betrayal. Mercouri learns that an American in a nearby Greek prison actually did kill her own children to revenge her Greek husband's philandering. She interviews the woman in prison, played by Burstyn, initially for publicity, but finds herself assimilating into her rehearsals the passion the woman suffers as she tells her story.

The powerfully riveting performances of Burstyn and Mercouri in this spell-binding tale of love and betrayal, acted out and reenacted in the timeless story of the theme in Euripides' original story Medea, left me speechless in my chair. Others got up to leave. I just sat there. The next showing came and went, then a third. This movie left me paralyzed and mute for over six hours. I can honestly say, even thirty years later, that A Dream of Passion is the most memorable film I have ever seen.

I saw this film when it was first released, and had forgotten it's stunning power until I just watched the extra features on the DVD for the Lynch/Herzog collaboration, "My son My son, What have ye Done." So it seems that the writer of that film's initial inspiration for the project was, wow, "A Dream of Passion." Incredibly, it seems that this marvelous film has not only not been redistributed as a Criterion film, it's seems to not be available as a DVD at all!

Two of the brightest, most mercurial actresses of the last fifty years, and a brilliant director. It deserves criterion status. The clever conflation of the real life story and the mythic, alone, is amazing.

This is another case when other reviewers have covered (quite well, I thought) the nuts & bolts of A DREAM OF PASSION.

I am commenting on pretty clear memories when I saw it while at University back in 19 blank blank. It is all the wonderful things the reviewers say. If I were still collecting movies, I would pay the going price even for VHS--it's that good. Mercouri took on this film after completing a series of outdoor performances of the original, classic MEDEA by Euripides. She won all kinds of accolades for an almost "channeled" portrayal of the scorned sorceress who sacrifices her children out of...what? hate, revenge, a twisted sense of justice?

As a prologue to A DREAM OF PASSION, you get to see Mercouri's Medea in all its awesomeness. Even today I'd snap the stage version right up if it were available. In terms of a DREAM OF PASSION, it was quite a gamble to have MM's staged Medea open the show so to speak--how can you top that? I remember the audience didn't expect that at all & people sort of sat there looking at the screen stunned by what they were witnessing. You wanted to applaud before the movie really even began. Hard to top--yes--but Burstyn, Mercouri, et al managed to do just that. This film can knock your socks off.

Jules Dassin's brilliant vision of actress [and spouse] Melina Mercouri's journey to theatrical Hell and Back is a rarely seen masterpiece.

Premise? Mercouri is about to embark on a production of MEDEA and uses incarcerated Burstyn [American wife/Greek Husband] as inspiration. Spontaneous improvised moments - especially the conversation about Brando and the "real" [possibly autobiographical] moments from "Last Tango in Paris".

Memorable moments between the two women!

Recommended? Pasolini's classic version of "MEDEA" with Callas - also a rare find!

[Now, what happened to "PHAEDRA" ? With Melina Mercouri, Anthony Perkins and Raf Vallone - a brilliant modern adaptation, by Jules Dassin].

Melina Mercouri plays a Greek actress in search of inspiration to play Medea. Once more the life has more imagination than you and I can imagine. So, the reality will come for her when she meets in a prison a Medea of the actual times: Ellen Burstyn has killed her three children in order to take revenge on her husband.

Jules Dassin (Rififi) conducts this original proposal.